Academics

"The level of classroom dialogue is amazing. The teachers have a great depth of knowledge in the subject area. The students are bright, confident, articulate and engaged."

David Horvick, former parent

A GFS Education

Germantown Friends School’s academic program is grounded in a culture of inquiry. On a daily basis, students and faculty at every grade level delve deeply into questions that form the heart of a rich and substantive curriculum—third grade science students formulate hypotheses about electrical conductivity; fourth and fifth graders conduct research and create a newspaper about ancient Greece; sixth graders explore the role of DNA and RNA in protein synthesis; Middle and Upper School Spanish students converse entirely in Spanish; eleventh grade history students debate the causes of the French Revolution; and math students field questions from their classmates as they solve problems at the board.

As GFS students move through the K-12 program, they learn to read actively, to write clearly and persuasively, to listen thoughtfully, to think critically and compassionately, and to act responsibly in a changing world. Students and teachers learn with and from one another, growing from a willingness to venture beyond what they comfortably know. Together, they create a vibrant intellectual community, engaging in what Quaker educator Parker Palmer calls “an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline.”